Yesterday at the Boston Marathon Finish Line

That's great!

Michigan Triathlon Track Workout

Fun with RCK!

400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400...@ 6 minute pace. I kept up!

Feeling lucky. 

14 Down With The Comet

It was tough starting out but I worked into it....14 miles down. Boom. Finished up with 1.5 miles at 6:35 pace.

Can't even begin to understand Dave "training" at 9.5 mph for half of today's run. Freakish for a 46 year old.

Playlist of the day helped:
- VH (of course)
- Maroon 5
- Alive and Kicking from Simple Minds - awesome

1000 cals at Leo's Coney afterwards with Dave and Steph. Sporting a tremendous new shirt.....

Best Post Of The Year: Swimming Is Learning, Favorite Things Updated

I was a little nervous last night.  I knew I was going to FAST swim practice in the morning, and that always makes me a little nervous.  In fact, it has been almost two years since I've been to practice.

Given my absence, you will likely guess it is not my favorite activity....and if you've read my Totals for 2014 post, you know for sure. However, given we are almost exactly half a year away from Ironman Boulder (189 days from now), it is time to begin increasing my yardage.

As I swam today, I was reminded of something profound (I think) about my swimming experiences in connection to my work as a educator.  Let me tell you about it.

I arrived at Schoolcraft College fitness complex around 6:45 this morning....

...and made my way to the pool.  I thought about helping put out the lane markers, but I was hesitant.  I was thinking "what will I do if the lane marker doesn't quite stretch far enough and I can hook it to the wall....what will I do?"  I wasn't sure and this question made me watch from afar until it was time to get in and begin the warmup.  

I've been to probably 30 FAST practices over the years, so this isn't new for me. Despite swimming hundreds of miles over the last five years and being a respectable age group triathlete, there is a sense - for me - that I'm a "newby" in the pool.  

There are six lanes in the pool.  Lane 1 is for the slowest and most novice swimmers.  Speed and intensity increases as you move down the pool to lane 6 where there are former college swimmers, a Kona qualifier or two, and Coach Jenny who has swum the English Channel. Two years ago I was swimming in lane 2, so I jumped right back in there today.  I definitely was set on staying out of lane 1.  :-)

Coach Jenny laid the workout on the deck at the end of the lane, and we started swimming at 7.  The total workout was 2700 yards with a lot of freestyle stroke but with some drills and mixed strokes in the last 500 yards.  Things went great for me in those first 2200 yards.  I felt strong, and I was feeling successful.  In fact, most of the workout I was leading group down the lane, and I began to think I should be swimming in lane 3!!!  

And then we began the last 500 yards. That's when I remembered what it is like to be a learner...not completely different than be a student in a school classroom.

The last 500 yards of the workout said something about distance medley, kick drills, fist drills (or something like that), backstroke and fly. I know what some of those things mean, but not all of them. And the ones I do know about I don't do well.  

Reading the workout, I felt a bit confused.  I don't know the order of the distance medley strokes. I was listening to what others in the lane were saying, trying to figure out what I should do. I don't know how swim the fly and I can't swim in a straight line when I backstroke.  I sometimes swim into others when doing the backstroke.  I decided to move my position from first in line to last in line.  And then I decided I would just swim freestyle, completely avoiding doing what was listed on the workout sheet.  

Upshot:  I felt unsure of myself, and I was unwilling to be a risk taker in the FAST swim workout environment.  Swimming is hard for me compared to biking and running....I've got a lot to learn.  This can be frustrating and can create self-doubt at times.  This is true despite being an adult with lots of success in life to help me persevere through tough learning moments.

This is thought-provoking because it reminds me of what happens for kids every day at school. They enter the classroom with strengths and areas where learning is not so immediate.  Much more often than me, most (maybe all?) students have to persevere when presented with learning challenges.  

It helps me to remember how hard learning can be in the pool and connect those difficult moments with what what kids experience each day at school....and what I/we must do in order to support them in being successful learners.

note: Will probably revise this sometime tomorrow.....not yet happy with it but getting tired. :-)

Favorite Things...while swimming today and letting my thoughts wander, I came up with the following list of the things I most enjoy owning...with #3 on the list being a new entry. Not sure why I was thinking about this...but sharing it now.

1.  Saeco Super Automatic Espresso Machine - it has been #1 since 2009.  Cappucino everyday at 5 AM.

2.  My Cervelo...thanks Steph.  Still glad you said "go ahead and get it." 

3.  MY NEW GARMIN!!!  More on the new Garmin later.  

Tomorrow's workout:  14 at 45-60 seconds over marathon pace.  

Hope things are going well for your training. #boston2boulder

Tweet from Chrissie Wellington (@chrissiesmiles)

Chrissie inspires while on the bike trainer this AM. 

	Chrissie Wellington (@chrissiesmiles)
1/9/15, 4:03 AM Sport. What's in it for you?! pic.twitter.com/GprinUFgE0

Download the official Twitter app here

Another Idea On How To Prepare For The Boston Hills

http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/boston-marathon-training-program/terrence-mahons-training-tips.aspx

The Weekend Update

It was the the best weekend of working out I've had in a long time....maybe a year.  Here's the rundown:

Thursday - tempo (i.e. marathon pace) run 

Friday - 20 miles on bike

Saturday - 1 mile in the pool, 8 on the road easy (outside and awesome)

Sunday - 12 on the tmill @ ~7:30 with a couple fast finish miles at 6:50

Felt great; felt strong.  Hope things are progressing for you too.

The big takeaway this weekend:

Keep the easy days easy.  Friday's low impact set things up.  Saturday brought back all of the enjoyment.  I was reminding myself the whole run to hold back and not let the pace creep into the sub 8 range.  

Other important items:

Mark Wright - two things:

- Comet says the two of you made a contact who lives in Boulder and has knowledge of the course....says he's going to put me in touch with said contact. True or not?

- I need to speak with you personally about Dave's trip to Boston last weekend...

- Can you get me into the Delta SkyMiles lounge too?

Mark Who? - 

- Alive? 

- Why are the students in Birmingham in Panama or Costa Rica or wherever they are right now?

- And why aren't you running Boston?

Scott - 

- What did you do today to top off last Sunday's 18 miler @ 6:40?

Steve - 

- Have you started training yet or are you waiting until after the Super Bowl?

Best part of playlist while running today:  Boston 1 album

Early Morning Ride = Starbucks On The Way In

Tempo Run Thusdays (TRT) and 2015 BM Night Flash Jackets

The Hansons Advanced Marathon Plan is definitely a step up for me. TRT after a lot of hours at work is a challenge. It is a lot different than sleeping in on Saturday and do a tempo run at 9 am. Suffered a bit but got it done last night: 6 at 6:50 pace plus warmup and cool down.

And then we have the new 2015 Boston Marathon jackets in all of its Easter egg-like glory:

I don't know what to say other than these two things:
1. I will buy it.....these things are my trophies.
2. The blue and yellow jackets from 2013 are the ultimate.

Heading to bike trainer in a bit...going to get today's workout in early.

Happy training...

Ha! I sometimes do this!

Step Up Week

Big week ahead...48 miles with 1k repeats indoor at UM on Tuesday and 7 at tempo on Thursday. Might switch some run volume to bike though. Overall feeling optimistic and healthy.

Scott texted to say he ran 18 yesterday @ 6:40. I'm certain he wasn't kidding. Top three age group Masters at Boston is within sight.

Shashy's probably finished at least two Ironmans this year by now...

More snow last night. Try to stay upright out there :-)

Training Got Real On Thursday

Training got real this week.  Tempo run on Thursday was tough...did not hold pace the entire run but stayed close. Tuesday on the track? Did great. Thanks. Heading to Tmill shortly. 

	Greg McMillan (@GregMcMillan)
1/9/15, 11:18 PM Repeat after me: "I can do it. I will do it. I can do it. I will do it. I can do it. I will do it." Say it rhythmically & often.

Keep up the good work. 😛

Dave Lives and Totals for 2014!

Dave Update:
I can confirm Paul's Dave sightings. The Comet lives!...we ran 10 "together" today.

However, during the run some shocking things were shared:
1.  Dave revealed he "accidentally" ran 60 miles over the past week.  SMH.  I can't even comprehend this.  The guy gets a couple days off work, and he turns into Forrest Gump.
2.  Dave said he ate a protein shake, a Clif Bar, 4 sandwiches (of some non-descript sort), 2 salmon burgers, and then 2 egg sandwiches BEFORE NOON YESTERDAY.  This, apparently, is what you eat when you have a 2:26 marathon PR.
3. At the start of the run today (treadmills), Dave said he was tired and was going to run short and slow.  HA!....by the end of the run Dave was running six minute pace and clearly ran farther than 10 miles.
Fun stuff.

Training Update:
43 miles this past week.  Completed track workout and tempo run...getting everything in so far.  Back to serious time at work tomorrow, so gotta find the right balance with training and the rest of life.

Totals for 2014:

Here’s how things shook out for me in exercise world for 2014 along with comparisons from other benchmark years:

	2012	2013	2014
Swim	137561 yards = 78 miles	59737 yards = 34 miles	43604 yards = 25 miles
Bike	2721 miles	1358 miles	1419 miles
Run	897 miles	1383 miles	1422 miles
Time	374 hours	326 hours	290 hours
Goal races	-   Ironman Muncie 70.3 -   Ironman Mont Tremblant	-   Lansing Marathon (Boston Qualifying) -   Ironman Muncie 70.3	-   Boston Marathon -   Ironman Steelhead 70.3

What I notice:

- Ironman training (2012) is a serious swim and bike commitment in comparison to other years.

- 2013 and 2014 are comparable years.  There is slightly less swim distance in 2014, but the time for strength workouts are not accounted for in the distance totals

- I'm working out less and less each year.  Mean hours over the last five years is 336 hours.  Hmmm...it may be that as I've dialed up intensity during workouts, it requires less time.

Predictions for 2015:

- Putting together Boston and Boulder will be difficult. The time to get in all the workouts will be a serious commitment.   Should be fun too.  

Thanks for reading....hope everyone's training is going well!  Have fun!

Comet Runs Again!

Paul Aufdemberge, the U.S. Masters 10K record holder and likely a daily reader of this blog, has verified that Dave "the Comet" Chomet has emerged the depths of his ageless couch and is running again. See below: 

This is good news...sounds like running has occurred at least two days in a row.  

To be clear, Paul is a reliable source. If he says Dave is running again I'm sure it is true. Paul, thanks for the info! I also appreciate your readership and support. I'm hoping for a great year with several friends at Boston and other friends at Boulder. 

So...Dave is back to his old ways and is running again. This likely means a few other things are true as well. I've written about these things previously, but I will review for you again:

- He's probably wearing his Dad's 14.5 year old Garmin although he likely isn't downloading because that wouldn't make sense....and he has never heard of Garmin Connect

- Dave is visiting the Detroit metro Planet Fitness locations several times a week 

- Dave owes me at least four breakfasts at Leo's Coney Island.....probably dozens more are owed to the reader's of this  blog. Just comment on this post if this is true so we can begin to understand the requirements of payment. 

More Comet news and updates as it becomes available. :-)

Treadmill Goals | Running and Marathon Goal Workout Tips

Might help get through the treadmill boredom....

m.runnersworld.com/workouts/runs-mill?adbid=550577206150184961&adbpl=tw&adbpr=14882900&cid=socTP_20150101_38045937